Moss named best F1 driver

British 1950s racing legend tops our F1 guru's list of all-time F1 greats.Grand prix guru Alan Henry has sparked debate by placing Stirling Moss at the top of his list of the greatest F1 drivers. In his new book, The Top 100 F1 Drivers of All Time, Henry cites Moss's astonishing versatility when racing alongside the more dynamic Jim Clark, whom he places second."I'm deeply honoured," said Moss. "I can see it's going to start a lot of arguments and it's a tough mantle to carry. So many others were so good. Look at Michael Schumacher. You've got to say that what he achieved at Ferrari was fantastic. No one else could have done it."Moss raced in F1 from 1951 to 1961 and won 16 F1 Grand Prix, finishing on the podium 24 times.

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Maurice you have Nelson Piquet in the top 25 above Ronnie Peterson and Dan Gurney and you don't have Nigel Mansell in the top 30 at all! Were you drunk when you composed your list? Not a book I'll be buying anytime soon!

I have been reading Alan Herny's articles since the days he worked on motorsport with WB (if my memory serves me correctly) and have always been impressed with his knowledge. I was really annoyed when Motorsport changed its remit in response to corporate nonsense and the two of them stooped wrting the GP reviews. Ive seen Schumi and some of the more modern drivers but not the likes of Moss or Fangio. I have to say I trust his judgement in this matter and so if thats the order he gives then I tend towards his choices. Of course this argument always rages in sport, how would Cristiano Ronaldo have coped with the leather case ball from the era of Jackie Milburn. How would Moss have coped in a moern car so quick and requiring such technical and engineering knowledge, how would Schumi of coped in an Auto Union. These are impossible questions to answer.

I must admit that in latter years I have found F1 to be pretty boring. Maybe it was actually better when you had Mansell, Prost and Senna racing or maybe it is a case of rose-tinted spectacles, who knows ? Maybe its the same with Alan Henry but at least he's been around a bit longer and has direct experience to know so his opinion must be held in some considerable esteem, I think.

Last year, I read a biography of Fangio - I once saw him at Donnington in the 1970s with my Dad and have been in awe ever since - and I can say that the environment back when he and Moss were racing meant that their success came in a significantly harsher environment. Maybe this is a factor in Alan Henry's thinking. I might buy the book to find out. If I do, I will report back.

Synopsis of the book taken from Amazon. I've just ordered the book. You don't need to thank me, Alan.

SynopsisIf you want a heated debate among motor racing enthusiasts, then just throw into the conversation the name of the Formula 1 driver you think is the best the sport has ever seen, and watch the sparks fly. Well, to fuel the fires of disagreement further, legendary F1 journalist Alan Henry now reveals his top 100 Grand Prix drivers of all time. Although skills behind the wheel and the resultant success are obviously notable factors, Henry gives his subjects a much more rigorous assessment. He also considers the qualities of dignity, tenacity and the ability of a driver to inspire the team around him - basically every part of the complex mix which goes into making a truly great practitioner of motor racing's most senior category. But who will make it into that coveted number one spot proffered by one of the sport's most respected authorities? Whether they agree with his choice or not, there will be motor racing fans across the world waiting to find out ...

So Sir Moss wins on his "astonish versatility" ... how about beating F1 cars with a Matra Formula 2 on the Nürburgring Nordschleife ? 12 years in F1 ? winning le Mans 24h (6 times, the first one at his first try !), the Paris-Dakar Rally, the Can-Am championship, Bathurst 1000..?
Jacky Ickx anyone ?
Plus if you take the factors cited in Amazon synopsis above, he should easily have made the list !
Tenacity, for example : "Jacky Ickx considers the 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans race to be his favourite win of all time. Retiring earlier on in another Porsche 936, which he shared with Henri Pescarolo, the team transferred him to the car of Jürgen Barth and Hurley Haywood which was in 42nd place. Ickx made up for lost laps to lead the race by early morning, but suffered a mechanical problem which forced the car to pit. The mechanics resolved the issue by switching off one cylinder, and Ickx went on to win the race." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacky_Ickx)
It seems to me that nationality might have been quite a factor in Mr Allen's choices... mixed with a bit of marketing 'flair', cue Lewis and Kimi, who could still go both ways before the end of their careers (let's see the Finn get fired for laziness and Heikki doing donuts around the latest british star for a laugh), and are thus pretty difficult to evaluate objectively, let alone put in a "rigourous assessment" of a top 30 best drivers of all time...
pretty sure i won't buy this book, even if i'll still be looking forward to dig into Alan Henry's massive F1 knowledge through his past and future writings.

Whether he has published this as a publicity stunt or not, either way it's a disgrace, having Schumacher as 11th! There is no way he should be out of the top 3. Hamilton at 30, he has done one season in the best car on the grid and already 30th best, just like JP Montoya who was claimed to be great after a couple of good seasons and now he's gone. Imagine a British driver achieving what Schumacher has achieved! Would he be ranked 11th? Don't think so!